So... Please tell me Why does a metal detector cost $2499 again?

[Fletch88]

I am aware of the problem you are referring to EP, but it has usually been from using the Sovereign in hip mount config and not securing the coil cable to hip mount loop thus putting strain on the cable and housing. Wouldn't it be great if they put a Sovereign GT in a housing about half as thick as a Sand Sharks housing with CTX style coil cable connectors and only water proof to 10'. Unfortunately that won't happen because Minelab moves forward with technology. Minelab is a for profit company and they reinvest a significant portion of their profit back into R&D thank goodness, otherwise we would all still be using the original Sovereigns.

 

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[el padron]

I am aware of the problem you are referring to EP, but it has usually been from using the Sovereign in hip mount config and not securing the coil cable to hip mount loop thus putting strain on the cable and housing. Wouldn't it be great if they put a Sovereign GT in a housing about half as thick as a Sand Sharks housing with CTX style coil cable connectors and only water proof to 10'. Unfortunately that won't happen because Minelab moves forward with technology.

Fletch, all they had to do was make it taper out of the side of the unit instead of strait off the bottom, or protect it with an additional piece of plastic. Mine is in good shape, I'm just really careful with it.....

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Its not a personal issue at all... Compared to modern consumer electronics all but a very few of the most popular detectors are hugely overpriced and extremely cheaply made. That is a fact. It doesn't matter that some people are happy to pay thousands of dollars for something that costs so little and is so relatively inadequate. That is irrelevant.
What matters is that in spite of their huge relative cost and when subject to a reasonable amount of care and use, they are still very unnecessarily vulnerable to failure. Some may be OK with that.
It just further illustrates the age old adage, that "In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"

Don't like Minelabs don't buy them, no one is holding a gun to your head making you buy one......


I have a Sov GT I bought 6 years ago and still working properly. Now I don't use it as pouch hanging from my belt nor do I let it bounce around or use it as a hammer..






American by birth, Patriot by choice.

I would rather die standing on my two feet defending our Constitution than live a lifetime on my knees......

 

[Juice in the hole]

I don't mind paying up for quality. There simply is no comparison between a Minelab and a cheap bounty Hunter. My time is valuable, I don't want to waste it with a toy...

sent from a potato...

And right there's the rub el padron.

I was an electrician in the trades for many years and used my fair share of crappy tools to do a job. Why? Because that's what I was issued. Every time that happened though I made a mental note and tried to buy a better version for myself. If you've ever done any home remodeling or any job really where you needed tools, you'll understand when I say that it sucks to use crappy tools.

If I'm out enjoying myself metal detecting, why would I risk not using the very best metal detector I could afford? It's not what you're actually missing in the ground, it's what you think you might be missing with a lower cost machine. In short, why would I want to use a crappy tool when better only costs a few hundred more?

 

[shepcal]

Hey El Paderon, Minelab for many years has had the best, bar none, equipment to metal detect with for gold. For coins and relics, I can not say. When one has the best product out there,one can ask their price and be paid. When I go out in the desert detecting, 100d+ temp, w/ black widows, rattlers, scorpions,cactus ect ect- I want the best. Might be cheaply made w/ cheap parts, lousy service dept, BUT! it is the best and has repeatedly proved itself to myself.

I'm loving it that Garrett and Fisher finally are trying to compete, with a good detector at a good price. Believe Minelabs prices will drop for awhile till they come up with something better again. Till then, I will try to hunt with the best product available.

I can't afford the fastest car or prettiest girl, guess it has to do with priorities; and no I don't use the ML 5000- I like my modded 4500 just fine ;-)

Shep

 

[danloop]

The 2499.00 model should do better than the 200.00 model but the replies I've read on this board usually point toward the operator if something doesn't work as expected.

 

[jmaryt]

Performance. If a machine doesn't perform, it would not sell. Period. A bad detector might sell intially with some hype, but sales will die if they don't perform in the hands of the user.

There is no greater example of this than in Northern Virginia, where a whole bunch of serious relic hunters have a GPX 4800 or GPX 5000. Why? Performance. In that dirt, nothing else works as well as one of the $5000 Minelabs. Its all been tried...

And the thing is - when (not if) something else comes along that tops it, all of those GPXs will be for sale while everyone jumps ship to the new machine.

Now a lot of those guys will buy a used machine to make it a bit easier on the wallet, but even so not many make up the cost of a $5000 machine with a bunch of $3 Civil War bullets from the 1860s. They buy them because without one, they probably are not going to find much. The performance gives them the chance to have a decent hunt.

Its a specialized hobby... sometimes people will pay to have fun.

it may be a "specialized' hobby but there are a lot of "obtuse" people in the world too.
buy a "decent" detector,and L E A R N. it!..put the "rest" of the money in an interest bearing
vehicle that "makes" you money!..again learn the detector you have,and find stuff!
i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t..

 

[jmaryt]

I don't think I could enjoy the ride that was costing me $1200.

me either!.. that's what my hand is for !..ehe! he! he!
i can "dream" i spent the $1200..ehe! he! he!
i'm just sayin'

 

[jmaryt]

And right there's the rub el padron.

I was an electrician in the trades for many years and used my fair share of crappy tools to do a job. Why? Because that's what I was issued. Every time that happened though I made a mental note and tried to buy a better version for myself. If you've ever done any home remodeling or any job really where you needed tools, you'll understand when I say that it sucks to use crappy tools.

If I'm out enjoying myself metal detecting, why would I risk not using the very best metal detector I could afford? It's not what you're actually missing in the ground, it's what you think you might be missing with a lower cost machine. In short, why would I want to use a crappy tool when better only costs a few hundred more?

excellent point when stating the concern about using the best tool,however the "best" one costing a "few hundred"
more is simply not true,hence the dialogue about the "cost"

 

[jmaryt]

The 2499.00 model should do better than the 200.00 model but the replies I've read on this board usually point toward the operator if something doesn't work as expected.

there ARE people in this hobby that "out hunt" others using very "cheap" detectors
because they KNOW their equipment inside and out,so the point is,you do NOT have to spend
the most money to have the best detector.the "so called" best detector IS the one you know and find the most stuff with period.


(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[dieselram94]

me either!.. that's what my hand is for !..ehe! he! he!
i can "dream" i spent the $1200..ehe! he! he!
i'm just sayin'

Lol!

sent from a potato...

 

[Jason in Enid]

The 2499.00 model should do better than the 200.00 model but the replies I've read on this board usually point toward the operator if something doesn't work as expected.

That's just the "sour grapes" members talking. The CTX (the only $2499 model out there) runs circles around cheap models. There will always be operators too lazy to learn how to use it and give up complaining that it's no better than XYZ detector.

 

[BC1969]

Kinda hard to comment on whether or not a 2500$ detector is worth it or not, since I could not afford one if I wanted to
But I can offer some perspective, my fisher 1265x my pops got for me in I think was 1982, I still use it, it was made to last in a time, ironically when quality in manufacturing was getting pushed aside in favor of profits, but that's another post.
If I remember correctly the 1265 was either 700 or 800 dollars, now keep in mind that was 82' and that was actually a good chunk of change in that time, in today's dollars I'm guessing its way over 2500.
Was it worth it ? Well comparing it to the slightly earlier models that came after the BFO's of the 60's it was night and day..apples to oranges, and any of the old timers in this hobby that were swinging their coils in the golden days of the new machines like my fisher, will tell you, absolutely they were worth that much money, in those days spending an 8-10 hour day in the old suburbs parks around the Detroit area, I would literally have to stop detecting and go unload all the silver out of my jeans pockets because they were full, because them old BFOs just couldn't match the performance of these new machines.
Nowadays, with the massive new trash amounts that have accumulated in the last 30 years, and them older coins sinking ever further from your coils, means newer tech had to come into play.
My explorer 2 I got last year, while used and 6 years old, is leaps and bounds ahead of my fisher, and if only because of the FBS technology in it aka multi frequency.
In revisiting said old parks from my early stomping grounds, I find it rather amazing in how it can pick through the trash, while maintaining very good depth.
Though, I do feel all the model in that line were designed to milk money from people every now and then by making newer models, that from what I know have mostly cosmetic changes, and a slightly faster processor for better target recovery speed.

That IMHO is a ploy to keep folks buying each new model, its the same with the PC market, x model in 1999 may have been a 1200mhz processor, every year they supposedly pushed tech further and speeds creeped upwards but I know very well, that they could have skipped all those incremental upgrades and made them the speed they are now back then....but from a business perspective, in doing so would made X company obsolete in a couple years time, or forced the siblings to comply and also match their I'm gonna give it all to them now, and not make them wait.

Not sure exactly how tech in processors degraded but FBS or not I can swing that old fisher with blinding speed and still get targets next to each other, where is the explorer, I have to literally take baby steps so the processor can work its magic...something fishy with that, why does something so much newer, have to be so slow ?

I know why, money, new model every year or so, versus making the best product you can make and have pride in a job well done. For there was a time when things were built around pride, not dollar signs.

Do I think a 2500 dollar detector is worth it ? Probably.

As a joke to R&D..pray you never need a organ transplant, anti rejection pills can cost thousands of dollars for a single pill..everyday of your life.

Mike

Edit, I got a Lil distracted from the point I was making, 1982 detector 800 bucks, several knobs and some plastic and aluminum, 30 years later, bunch of plastic, LCD screen, multiple frequencies and a 1000 bucks new..seems like a damn fine deal to me, and I've seen what the 2500 dollar ones can do..wish I could afford one..but since the mid 80's for folks like me, wages have not really changed much in that time frame to current times, which is sad considering everything has increased 100x in price.

 

[el padron]

by making newer models, that from what I know have mostly cosmetic changes, and a slightly faster processor for better target recovery speed.

That IMHO is a ploy to keep folks buying each new model, its the same with the PC market, x model in 1999 may have been a 1200mhz processor, every year they supposedly pushed tech further and speeds creeped upwards but I know very well, that they could have skipped all those incremental upgrades and made them the speed they are now back then....but from a business perspective, in doing so would made X company obsolete in a couple years time, or forced the siblings to comply and also match their I'm gonna give it all to them now, and not make them wait.
I have to literally take baby steps so the processor can work its magic...something fishy with that, why does something so much newer, have to be so slow ?

Mike, You made all the right points then came to the wrong conclusion.
In the 80's a microwave oven cost $400. Today most all consumer electronics cost 25% of what they were selling for in the 80's.... Computing power is thousands of times faster.
Your 80's fisher that you purchased for $800 had $800's worth of very high tech in it. It probably was physically designed well too.
Now that "bunch of plastic, LCD screen, multiple frequencies..... $1000 bucks, actually costs pennies, PENNIES. Its put in a cheap plastic often times extremely poorly designed case. Even when taking the time value of money into consideration, the modern product should cost a few hundred dollars at most. Thats for most high end machines.... In fact there is very little difference in the cost of manufacturing the high end or the low end modern detectors. Niether of them are water resistant, thats foe sure.
The manufacturers are fleecing a very gullible public that knows full well they bought a cheaply made collection of extremely overpriced components that will justify the purchase to save face.....
Thousands of dollars!!!!! are you kidding!!!!! Do you have any Idea how much washing machine $1000 buys? They come with built in computers, miracle lifetime electric motors and are comprised of over 175 pounds of steel and aluminum.
How about Stereo receivers, Do you have any idea how much amazing technology goes into a modern day $700 stereo receiver? Blue tooth 10 speaker surround sound etc........

Have you ever held a $600 Garret AT pro? Are you kidding!!!! It costs them $20 to make it.... $20. Send one to China with 10,000 orders and they will beat that price...... Yet just watch .. Watch how many of these guys are gonna defend their purchase in the next few posts... Why because it paid for itself.? No, YOU paid for it, You paid for it many times over......You paid for it by spending six months in 118 degree Arizona weather, digging countless holes and moving thousands of pounds of dirt.
Whats with the cheap knobs on a $1500 exclaliber? Are they ******ed? Is there a better technology for controlling those 5 different functions? Sure there is.....Did they do anything about it? No, because Minelab has absolutely no respect for you as consumers.

Are you guys for real? Can you possibly be that STUXXD?
The manufacturers have every right to make a profit, If we make a collective stand you will gain their respect, keep more of your hard earned money, and in the process increase the value of the product you purchase from them.

I know you're perfectly happy with it all......

 

[el padron]

Don't like Minelabs don't buy them, no one is holding a gun to your head making you buy one......


I have a Sov GT I bought 6 years ago and still working properly. Now I don't use it as pouch hanging from my belt nor do I let it bounce around or use it as a hammer..






American by birth, Patriot by choice.

I would rather die standing on my two feet defending our Constitution than live a lifetime on my knees......

No, but I tell them whats on my mind every chance I get......


You are in a position that could make a difference if you knew any better, You know I'm right.....
SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!

 

[BC1969]

Dear God man !! Why are you so angry ?
I appreciate the reply, since most people ignore me around these parts, since I'm kinda nuts..but you kinda missed the point of what I said, I was agreeing with you about the way things are made, greed versus pride.
I wish you were around to fight this good fight when Clinton signed the NAFTA into the books, that's where this all started.

However can't put mine lab in those shoes since they are a Aussie company, as far as I know anyway.
Now i have not held a CTX or a gpx so I can't say how they are made, but my explorer 2 is made exceptionally well, the weight of the damn arm and shoulder breaker can attest to that.
So why are you so angry ? Send me a pm if you need to vent, I'm a good listener.

Mike

 

[Fletch88]

I agree with how cheap the ATPro feels and looks. But el pardon they are in it to make money and the total cost of the CTX ~2,000-$2499 is composed of a lot more than just the physical pieces you hold in you hand. Sure if that was it and they never were going to improve technology they could probably get cot down to $1500. But they continue to improve their products and roll out new models. I've owned the machine(s) that cost 300-$600 that the technology hasn't changed since 1980's and it's not good. I'm happy with my CTX and the quality of its build and function. It makes my detecting experience 100 times more enjoyable.

 

[el padron]

Dear God man !! Why are you so angry ?
I appreciate the reply, since most people ignore me around these parts, since I'm kinda nuts..but you kinda missed the point of what I said, I was agreeing with you about the way things are made, greed versus pride.
I wish you were around to fight this good fight when Clinton signed the NAFTA into the books, that's where this all started.

However can't put mine lab in those shoes since they are a Aussie company, as far as I know anyway.
Now i have not held a CTX or a gpx so I can't say how they are made, but my explorer 2 is made exceptionally well, the weight of the damn arm and shoulder breaker can attest to that.
So why are you so angry ? Send me a pm if you need to vent, I'm a good listener.

Mike

I'm not angry, Do I come across as angry? Its so hard to convey tone on a public forum.... If you read through the instruction manual that your metal detector came with, you will find it is written in an instructional "simplified" tone that can also be described as "informatively dumbed down" .....
Thats what I'm doing.....

 

[el padron]

I agree with how cheap the ATPro feels and looks. But el pardon they are in it to make money and the total cost of the CTX ~2,000-$2499 is composed of a lot more than just the physical pieces you hold in you hand. Sure if that was it and they never were going to improve technology they could probably get cot down to $1500. But they continue to improve their products and roll out new models. I've owned the machine(s) that cost 300-$600 that the technology hasn't changed since 1980's and it's not good. I'm happy with my CTX and the quality of its build and function. It makes my detecting experience 100 times more enjoyable.

Hey,
The hobby comes first, I'm considering a CTX 3030, Though It looks like I'm gonna spring for a Garret ATX first. I've been spending some time getting a feel for gold prospecting, and I'm ready to get my own ATX. It folds and is really made well. it also is a very sensitive machine.... The SGT consistently surprises me with good stuff, but I'll probably start looking for a used CTX some day..

 

[BC1969]

If saying everybody is stupid, is being nice..lol

Mike